Secret Friends

624 2-20-92
Dennis Potter, the celebrated British writer for TV (The Singing Detective, Pennies From Heaven) and film (Brimstone and Treacle, Dreamchild), makes a bold directing debut with a darkly seductive and witty thriller that will leave you elated or dozing, depending on your tolerance for his unapologetically demanding conundrums.

Loosely based on Potter's 1986 novel Ticket to Ride, the film concerns John (Alan Bates), an illustrator of wildflowers who may or may not have murdered Helen (Gina Bellman), who may or may not be his wife. "I'll kill the little bitch," says John early in the film. Later, on a London-bound train, John struggles to distinguish between illusion and reality. Sometimes the film plays like a parody of Potter's patented mix of comedy, violence and jazz tunes. More often, though, Secret Friends -- buoyed by outstanding performances from Bates, Bellman and Frances Barber as another woman who haunts John's dreams -- holds you in thrall.

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(Posted: Dec 8, 2000)